Discipline's best friend

Mental toughness is discipline’s best friend. Rarely do you find one without the other. They’re so close they’re often mistaken for twins.

Maintaining discipline requires the resolve to say, “No.” Your heart and your stomach are going to fight to convince you to say, “Yes.” You can’t let them win.

Mental toughness is the superpower behind the disciplined man. It acts like a guardrail that keeps you on the right path. When weakness whispers in your ear and entices you stray, mental toughness kicks into action.  

Why do you workout?

Deep down in your bones, you know that exercise, or working out is important to your long-term health. You've known this since childhood. 

How often do you pause to think beyond the vague promise of a healthier life? How often do you consider a deeper reason for our sweat and tears? 

Working out is hard. It’s uncomfortable. It often hurts. And it pushes you to the breaking point on a regular basis. All that pain and all that suffering have to be about more than the promise of avoiding sickness. There’s no guarantee your time in the gym will help you avoid a cold or prevent real systemic disease from darkening your door. That promise can’t be made. 

So why put yourself through all that difficulty and pain, if there isn’t a guarantee? 

Because working out is about far more than empty promises and disease prevention. It’s about preparation. Preparation for future challenges of both a physical and mental nature. 

Running and lifting get your body ready for the next physical task. Be it a competition or a fight. It disciplines your body by exposing it to a milder form of pain today to prepare it for far greater pain at some later date. 

Showing up every day builds the discipline and mental toughness you need to conquer challenges that take place in a different arena as well. If you’ve been getting under the bar and placing yourself in uncomfortable situations for months and months, you’ll be less uncomfortable and stressed by life’s trials. You’ll have the mental resolve to power through and finish no matter how hard things get.

Workouts become training sessions in this new light. Each workout takes on a new meaning and purpose and either moves you closer to your goal or farther from it. 

Make each time you walk in the gym the training ground for life’s next great adventure. Look at all that sweat, time and pain as your best friend. Because that’s exactly what discipline is.